Artificial tooth.



No. 64|,930. Patented Jan. 23, I900. B. BREWSTER.

AHTlFlClAL TOOTH. (Application med July 29, 1899.)

(No Model.)

8:41:014 boz,

NORRIS FEI'ERS ca, wormmuo WASHINGTON, n. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFIcE.

ROBERT BREWVSTER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

ARTIFICIAL TOOTH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 641,930, dated January23, 1900.

Application filed July 29,189Q. Serial No. 725,468. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ROBERT BREWSTER, a subject of the Queen of GreatBritain, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State ofIllinois, have invented new and useful Improvements in Artificial Teeth,of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in artificial teeth, and pertainsto a construction for conveniently and readily attaching a crown to aroot, in which is combined an elongated slot or recess in the base ofthe crown, which extends in a direction from front to back thereof,(labial to lingual aspect,) said elongated recess having a metalliclining and a flat plate or pin fitting snugly the sides of the saidrecess, but capable of edgewise movement, all of which will be fullydescribed hereinafter and particularly pointed out in the claims.

' The object of my invention is to enable a dentist to more accurately,conveniently, and permanently connect a crown to a tooth-root and toimmovably attach the same at any angle necessary to suit any variety ofshape found in natural roots.

Heretofore many constructions have been designed with the end in view ofconnecting a crown to a natural-tooth root; but so far as I am awarenone of these previous constructions have shown the crown of the toothprovided with an elongated metallic-lined recess or slit extending fromfront to back of the tooth, combined w-ith a pin which is fiat orelongated in cross-section and of a thickness to fit snugly the sides ofthe said elongated recess and capable of edgewise oscillation thereinfor attaching the crown evenly and perfectly to natural roots at thevarious angles they are found and to unite the flat pin to the crown bysoldering the fiat sides of the pin and the adjacent walls of themetallic lining or band of the elongated slit in the toothcrown. Thoseprevious constructions bearing the nearest analogy to mine haveconsisted in providing the crown of the tooth with a round hole, whichin some instances has been extended entirely through the crown of thetooth and which also in some instances has been provided with a metalliclining, into which either an ordinary wire or pin has been tion therein.

soldered or screwed. The difficulty with this construction is that inorder to adapt the crown to natural roots extending at'various angles itis necessary to bend the pin, and

r the bending of a stout pin at a point immediately below the base of atooth makes it practically impossible to make an accurate fit betweenthe tooth and the root. This construction differs widely from myinvention, as will appear hereinafter. Also tooth-crowns have beenprovided with oval holes, (not elongated slits running from front to theback of the tooth,) and these oval holes have been provided withcross-holes for use with rubber or other plastic material, and whichalso differs radically from my invention.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which-Figure 1 is a perspective view of a toothcrown, showing my form of themetallic-lined elongated slit therein. Fig. 2 is a similar View showingmy improved fiat pin in posi- Fig. 3 is a sectional view of anupper-incisor tooth-crown and root, showing my invention appliedthereto. Fig. 4 is a similar view showing my invention applied to adistorted natural root. Fig. 5 is a detached view of one form of my pin.Figs. 6, 7, and 8 are detached views of other forms of my pin. Fig. 9 isa sectional view of a molar-root, showing my invention adapted for usein connection therewith. Fig. 10 is a cross-sectional view of atooth-crown,showing my invention applied thereto. Fig. 11 is a detachedview of the flat pin used in connection with molars, showing itconstructed for attachment to natural roots which extend at abnormalangles.

Referring now to Figs. 1 and 2, a is a toothcrown which is provided withan elongated recess or slit 1) in the base thereof and which extendsfrom front to back of the said tooth, for a purpose which will bepresently described. This elongated slit is provided with a metalliclining a, which is baked therein for the purpose of permanentlyconnecting the same within the said slit. This metallic lining may be inthe form of a band of any desired width, as indicated in Figs. 1 to 4,inclusive, and also in Fig. 10, for the purpose of effecting a saving inthe quantity of metal required, as a band of the width here shown isfound to be of suificient strength to immovably and permanently connectthe flat pin 01 when the band and the pin are united by soldering.

In Fig. 3 my invention is shown applied to a root which is in its propernatural position and in which instance a fiat pin of the constructionshown in Fig. 5 is used.

In Fig. 4 I show my invention for connecting a crown to a root which isdistorted from its natural proper position and in which event the head 6of the flat pin has its corners cut away, as illustrated, for adaptingthe pin to be oscillated to one side in the elongated slit to enable thepin to assume the proper angle to extend into the distorted root f, Fig.4.

In Fig. 9 I show a fiat pin t with two projecting prongs m to fit intothe two canals of a molar-root, the pin in other respects beingconstructed the same as that shown in Figs. 1 to 8, inclusive, forfitting into a correspondingly-elongated recess or slit in thetoothcrown.

In Fig. 11 I show the pin 2' with its corner cut away for adapting it toassume an angle in the tooth-crown to fit into distorted molarroots, aswill be readily understood.

The fiat pins 61 and i are made of a width to fit snugly against theside walls of the metallic lining or band I) in the elongated slit ofthe tooth-crown, but preferably (though not absolutelynecessary)permitting some loose endwise movement in the said slot topermit a slight endwise movement or reciprocation of the pin in the saidopening to enable the pin to adapt itself to slight variations in theangle of the root to which the crown is to be applied. When the crown isto be applied to a root at an angle at which the slight edgewisemovement of the pin will not be sufficient, then it is only necessaryfor the dentist to file away one or both of the lower corners or edgesof the head 6 of the pin sufi'iciently to permit the pin to be movedendwise to the desired angle. From the above description it will be seenthat a dentist can readily adjust this flat pin in the elongated openingto the desired angle for making an accurate fit of the base of the toothagainst the root by simply filing the corners or edges of the head ofthe pin and without any bending of the pin. Owing to the elongated slitand the correspondingly-shaped fiat pin fitting against the side wallsthereof, I provide a broad uniting surface or surfaces for the pin tothe crown of the tooth by soldering, which produces a much strongerconnection between the crown and the pin than is possible with a roundpin and requires but a very small quantity of solder to effect theunion.

The fiat pins can be furnished to the dentist in blank form, if desired,the dentist to then file the pin to the desired shape necessary to fitthe crown accurately to the root. However, I prefer to providevariously-shaped pins with variously-shaped heads, some of which areillustrated in Figs. 5 to 8 and in Fig. 11, so that the dentist canselect the pin which will either enable him to accurately fit the crownto the root or which will need but a slight touch of the file to permitit to be moved to that angle which will accomplish the accurate fittingof the crown to the root.

A construction such as that herein shown and described will be of greatconvenience to dentists in enabling them to accurately and quickly fit acrown to a root, and when it is fitted into position and soldered asolid, firm, and immovable connection between the root and the crown iseffected.

It will be readily understood that I have not herein attempted to showall of the angles and shapes of the head and the leg s of the pin whichit may be necessary to provide, but have only shown a sufiicient numberto enable the construction and method of applying my invention to beunderstood.

Referring now to Fig. 5, if one edge of the head of the pin is cut asindicated by dotted lines Y Y and the other corner cut as indicated bythe dotted lines Z Z one edge of the head of the pin will fit all alongone end of the metallic band b in the elongated opening, and as the pintouches the band at both of its sides a thoroughly firm attachment willresult between the crown and the pin when solder is applied.

Another advantage of my improved attachment and tooth-crown is that thestrain upon the pin is edgewise, and as the pin is fiat and ofconsiderable width it is capable of withstanding a great deal morestrain than it is possible for a round pin to resist. This, togetherwith the additional soldering-surface provided by the sides of the fiatpin of the elongated slit, is of considerable importance in the art ofconstructing and attaching toothcrowns to roots.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is-

1. Animproved tooth-crownhavingan elongated recess or slit extendingfrom front to back thereof, a metallic lining for said slit, and afiat-headed pin situated in the said slit and adapted to be united tothe said lining, substantially as described.

2. An improved tooth-crown having an elongated slit extending from frontto back thereof, and an edgewise-movable flat-headed pin situated withinthe slit and engaging the side walls thereof, whereby the pin may bemoved edgewise to the proper angle for fitting the root of the tooth towhich it is applied, substantially as described.

3. An improved tooth-crown having an elongated recess or slit in thebase thereof extending from front to back, a metallic lining in saidslit and united to the porcelain of the crown, in combination with aflat pin having a head of less size than said slit, and with its 10walls thereof, whereby the pin may be moved edgewise to the proper anglefor fitting the legs of the head to the root of the tooth to which it isapplied.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of twosubscribing I 5 witnesses.

ROBERT BREWSTER. Witnesses:

CHARLES LONGBRIDGE, HERBERT CLARK.

